A £5 million regulatory settlement over historical compliance failures at Grosvenor Casinos is close to being accepted by the Gambling Commission, and the finalisation letter is still awaited.
In its full-year trading update, the group said it submitted the proposal on 20 May as an alternative to a financial penalty after a review of the operating licence held by Grosvenor Casinos Limited. The nature of the failings was not disclosed, but remedial actions were described as substantially implemented in the first half of 2025/26.
The figure was calculated by reference to gross gambling yield during the reviewed period, from 1 November 2024 to 1 May 2025, in line with updated principles that came into force on 10 October 2025. Those principles say payments in lieu of a financial penalty do not need to be paid into the Consolidated Fund in the same way as formal fines, and that penalties should be set so non-compliance is more costly than compliance. They also say the starting point for the penal element is ordinarily a percentage of the licensee’s gross gambling yield from the breach period.
The same update showed a stronger trading picture. Like-for-like net gaming revenue rose 6% to about £834.1 million, and underlying operating profit is expected to be at least £76 million, which the company described as ahead of expectations. The medium-term goal remains annual operating profit of at least £100 million.
The settlement would add to a long regulatory record. In January 2022, the group agreed to pay £700,557 for social responsibility failures at Rank Digital Gaming (Alderney). In 2018, the regulator imposed a £500,000 package after finding failures to protect a problem gambler, including contact during a self-exclusion period and breaches of credit rules.
In 2015, Grosvenor Casinos surrendered an estimated £950,000 in profits after weaknesses in anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls, following the conviction of a former leading customer, Da Feng Ding. The company expects separately disclosed items to include a £5 million provision linked to the settlement, and preliminary results for 2025/26 are due on 13 August.
